Women's tennis returns to MSU as Title IX turns 42

Today, as Title IX reaches another anniversary, Missouri State women's tennis coach Mallory Weber sits in her office and builds a team from scratch.

The landmark legislation that paved the way for the rise of women's athletics turns 42 years old today. That's 17 years older than the 25-year-old Weber, who began her duties in April and has hardly slowed down since.

But that doesn't mean the significance of the legislation is lost on Missouri State's newest head coach.

"Title IX has done wonders for women's athletics. It's historically been a positive for women in sports," Weber said. "We should look at it as a positive step that we can bring this sport back, and I'm just excited that I was chosen to lead it."

The Missouri State women's tennis program, dormant since 2006 after being discontinued along with four other sports in a money-saving effort by the MSU athletic department, is back. Its first recruiting class was recently announced, and the fall schedule is coming soon.

And none of it would happen without Title IX.

Missouri State operates under "Prong One," known as "proportionality," to comply with Title IX. In other words, MSU must carry the same proportion of male and female student-athletes as the proportion of full-time male and female students in the undergraduate student body.

The school's research last year showed that it was about 2.5 percent away from being in proportion. That led to the creation of a task force charged with developing a plan to add women's sports.

Tennis was one of four favorites that emerged as an option, and officially became Missouri State's 17th sport — and 11th women's sport — in September.

Weber, previously an assistant at Texas-San Antonio and a former player at the University of Missouri, was announced as the head coach in late February.

"I'm just really excited. I can only go up, I feel," Weber said. "I'm put in a pretty unique situation, restarting a program, and it's really more excitement than pressure at this point."

In a way, the hiring of Weber to restart the program has brought women's tennis at Missouri State full circle. It was none other than Mary Jo Wynn, the titan of women's sports at Missouri State, who formed tennis and volleyball teams at the school in 1958 to begin the organization of women's athletic competition.

Wynn remains the longest-tenured women's tennis coach in school history, guiding the team from its formation in 1958 until 1975, when she became the director of women's athletics at MSU.

"It's absolutely come full circle," said Casey Hunt, senior woman administrator and senior associate athletic director at Missouri State. "Obviously you have a female program and you want to do everything you can to provide as much opportunity as you can, and having a female coach only enhances that."

And while she is the youngest of Missouri State's head coaches, Weber said it's clear the importance of Title IX isn't lost on others in the athletic department.

"The athletic department here has been fantastic. I feel like they really are part of a family, and that's been really welcoming," Weber said. "You look at the coaches who have been here... They know what it's like and they've seen a lot of things."

Now, Weber will begin to add her name to the legacy of women's athletics at Missouri State.

"You look across the country, you want to see women in those roles," Weber said. "And as a young coach, this is a dream to be a head coach at this stage in my career."

Meet the coach

New Missouri State women's tennis coach Mallory Weber will be the focus of a meet-and-greet event July 10 at Cooper Tennis Complex. The event is free and open to the public, and will take place from 4-6 p.m. in the Cooper Tennis Complex community room.